mike The human body is an incredibly complex thing and because of its complexity there are a great many things that can go wrong in the day-to-day operation of your body. These issues present themselves in a variety of ways and often the rarest conditions are all but unheard of. This article aims to give brief descriptions of a handful of rare medical conditions that you have probably never even heard of.
1. Pica
An unfortunate disorder, Pica is a particular eating disorder that drives people to eat things that are not generally considered food. These cravings cover a wide spectrum of non-food items and often the items people suffering from the condition crave are not good for their health. Common issues that are a result of eating non-food objects include intestinal infections and obstructions as well as injuries to the mouth and teeth.
2. Jerusalem Syndrome
This, particularly strange disorder, is what is known as psychotic decompensation. In essence, when a person travels to Jerusalem, there is a chance that the sight of the Holy Land triggers obsessive thoughts about religion and even the delusion that you are the messiah. There are three variants of this condition according to The British Journal of Psychiatry, two of which are concerned with pre-existing disorders and the third with spontaneous development of Jerusalem syndrome without any previous history of mental illness. In the latter case, the sufferer’s condition usually returns to normal within 5-7 days and they do not require hospitalization.
3. Body Integrity Identity Disorder
An unusual mental disorder in which a person’s mental image of themselves is misaligned with their actual physical body. Those who suffer from Body Integrity Identity Disorder usually harbor an intense desire to amputate a specific portion of their body, or even sever their spinal cord in order to become paralyzed. Due to the rarity of the condition, it is very infrequently studied. However, there are some things known about the disorder. For example, it has an onset in early childhood and the reason most sufferers give for wanting to modify their body is to feel complete or comfortable within themselves.
4. Dysphagia
Dysphagia is the medical term for swallowing difficulties and individuals who suffer from dysphagia can have symptoms ranging from difficulty swallowing certain foods or liquids, to a total inability to swallow. Fortunately, mild Dysphagia is not too damaging and there are measures that can be taken to help manage the condition. These range from thickening certain foods and liquids that the person has issues swallowing (using products such as SimplyThick), to surgery to widen the esophagus.
5. Foreign Accent Syndrome
This bizarre syndrome refers to a sudden and seemingly unexplained shift in your spoken accent. This condition is most common after suffering an injury to the head, a stroke, or any other kind of brain damage. This is an incredibly rare condition, but it is a real one and the cause of it is thought to lie in damage to the Broca’s area of the brain, which is typically linked to the production of speech.
